In late October of this year, the eleven stories of North Atlanta High School were flooded with spooky decorations, an annual phenomenon admired by most students. This tradition is implemented each year in celebration of Halloween. But this year was different. The homecoming dance fell on Oct. 28, a relatively late start compared to other schools. But the tardy date was not where the controversy came in–it was the overlap of dates. The Saturday before Halloween, Oct. 28 this year, is infamously known to be filled with Halloween parties and festivities in lieu of Oct. 31 when trick-or-treaters crowd the streets in search of candy–a fun activity that is often avoided by high school students. The scare of homecoming falling on “Halloweekend” left students split when they were forced to answer the dilemma: Halloween party or school dance? Did students feel that “The Nightmare Before Homecoming” was actually a nightmare? And would the decorations be too terrifying for the classic pictures?
Homecoming takes weeks and potentially months of planning, but SGA was not the only group planning. The weeks leading up to homecoming are full of planning picture parties, afterparties, outfits, and more. However, this year posed a new issue regarding the dress code. After all, how should one dress for a monster mash? Do you wear a costume or formal attire? Several students approached this problem with the innovative solution of sweatpants while others combined formal attire with costumes. The confusion resulted in a terrifying panic for those who have experienced the stressful reality of homecoming dress shopping in the past. “You have to pick out your dress early before all of the good ones are bought,” sophomore Iris Hamilton said. “I took a different strategy this year and bought my dress online. It was a little risky but it worked out really well.”
While decorations are traditionally less frightening, they were certainly more interactive this year. A massive centerpiece stood tall in the center of the dance floor, composed of a large skeleton and an impressive display of balloon art working in unison to form a tree. It was midway through the dance that the skeleton started to dance with the students and the DJ successfully shut it down. However, disappointment did not last very long because the dancing continued throughout the rest of the night. There was a massive increase in the number of students and attendees compared to last year which reflected positively on the success of this year’s homecoming. Freshman Davis Barnes, although it was his first high school homecoming, thought it was a great one. “My friends and I had a lot of fun, it was cool to see the school come together outside of class,” he said.
Perhaps it is not the theme that matters in the success of homecoming, but rather the students’ engagement in the classroom and on the dance floor. Homecoming 2023’s theme may have been risky but it seems to have worked out well.
